Lost and Found
by MidnightMoon2005
Summary: Response to prompt 21 on the NCIS Special Ops board.


**Lost And Found**

_Challenge #21_

Broken glass crunched underfoot. Tony groaned inwardly to himself, he hated being up so early on a Sunday. It was 6:30am, and the sun was already beating down heating the seemingly abandoned shell of a restaurant. _"WHAT would **anyone** want with this place?" _he wondered to himself, _"there's nothing here except for some old furniture…"_

"Tony…" Kate began, when she got no response she walked over to her partner and shook his shoulder. She inhaled sharply when he turned suddenly, obviously scared himself.

"Yes Kate..?" He asked trying to wipe the irritation from his tone.

"Hey…I'm not the one who dragged you out of bed…snap at Gibbs about that," she taunted, "now…after looking around, can you see anything that would tell why our killer picked this place to dump the body?"

"Not at this time Kate…" Tony said crouching down to examine the shattered window.

"What else is new…" Kate said as she continued to walk through the abandoned building to where the body was found. Kate felt her throat go dry at the sight of the petty officer they were called to find. Slowly she walked around the body to observe from every angle. She was spread out on the cold floor, she wore a short skirt and tank top, and her eyes were wide in fear. Kate felt the blood rush from her face as she suddenly made a connection between the contorted face and a former colleague; _"I think I knew her…"_

"What's that?" Gibbs said, walking up behind her.

"Huh? Oh nothing Gibbs…trying to get a grasp on the situation that's all…"

The three of them stood in silence, taking in the scene; all of them trying to focus and ignore the heavy scent of a dead body that appeared to be there for a week. Kate stood there in silence, lost in thought, wondering who in fact this really was; she quickly shook any personal association from her mind, she didn't know this person, she refused to believe she could've.

"Boss…I'm gonna take a look around…" Kate said, turning on her flashlight as she headed to the area with significantly less light. Carefully, trying not to bump into anything she made her way to the kitchen, looking for anything out of the ordinary as she passed each chair and table. She slowly advanced towards the kitchen door, and pushed it open. Shining the flashlight in front of her, pausing briefly to get a good look at the area before she entered; she headed into the kitchen looking for anything that could be evidence. She inspected the sinks, the stoves; suddenly something caught her attention in the pantry, as if something was begging to be found. Carefully she tried opening the door unaware that it was stuck. Growing frustrated that she couldn't open it she yanked the door and it sprung open. An overwhelming scent took over her nostrils and she didn't realize the jar on the edge of the second shelf until it shattered in front of her spraying her white pants with its red contents. Suddenly she realized what was in it and let out a stifled yelp. At the sound of her scream Tony came running to her aid.

"What is it?" Tony asked, obviously caught off guard by her sudden outburst.

"S…something fell off the shelf…I think I know what it is…" Kate stammered; more shaken by the contents of the fallen jar than the glass that was now scattered at her feet. Tony looked at Kate noticing her trembling slightly, knew exactly what to do.

"Hey Boss! Is Ducky here yet?" Tony called through the kitchen door.

"Yea just got here…"

"Send him in here now!" Tony yelled. Ducky walked over to Kate and took a sample of the blood that was now spattered across the cement floor of the kitchen. Kate backed up a few steps and suddenly realized why the scent was so strong in the pantry.

"Ummm…guys…Ducky…I don't think this is a single murder case anymore…" she said, eyeing the remaining contents in the pantry, "there appears to be the meat of the victim up there…"

Kate's face went white as she said the words; she had never seen something so sickening in all her time working for NCIS.

"What's going on in here?" Gibbs inquired.

"It appears we're dealing with a bit of a copy cat…" Ducky explained.

"A copy cat?" Kate asked in disbelief, "Of what exactly?"

"An ancient oral folk tale from France, _The Story of Grandmother_," he began, and upon seeing the puzzled looks of the team members he continued, "in this version of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf kills the Grandma and places her remains in the cabinet."

"No wonder we don't hear that version as kids," Kate said.

"Ohhh, I'm afraid it gets worse Caitlin," Ducky continued, "not only is the grandmother stored there, when little red riding hood arrives, he tells her to go drink the wine and eat the meat stored in the cabinet..."

"Are you saying that the little girl ended up eating her grandmother…?" Tony asked obviously disgusted. Ducky just looked at him and Tony understood immediately. He glanced at Kate who was looking whiter by the second.

"Hey…boss…would it be ok if I go back to the office to shower and grab a change of clothes?" Kate asked trying to swallow away her nausea. It only took one glance for Gibbs to see the paleness of her face.

"Sure…" Gibbs said nodding slightly, "Ducky, McGee and I will stay here a bit longer to inspect some more. You go with her, DiNozzo."

"Ok boss," Tony said following Kate out of the kitchen. Once she was outside the main door Kate inhaled deeply filling her lungs with fresh air.

"That scene really got to you didn't it?" Tony asked; studying his partner's actions.

"Yea…I haven't felt that sick on a scene in a while," she said before getting into the passenger's seat of Tony's car. Kate rolled the window down as soon as they started to move.

"Wonder what they did to Snow White in France…" Tony said.

"What?" Kate asked, obviously irritated and not in the mood for one of his jokes.

"Seriously…think about it…if the wolf stuck Grandma in the pantry in France…what if the dwarfs…" Tony began, but was quickly cut off by Kate.

"Can we not talk about this right now...I just want to get in the office and shower and go home," Kate said her voice scratchy.

"Fine, fine," Tony said, in mock surrender as he pulled into the parking lot. Together they walked through the doors and turned to head into the shower area.

"Wait here…if I catch you peeping, it'll be the last thing you ever do…" Kate said staring him straight in the eye. As she disappeared into the locker room he couldn't help but smile. He loved the way she was willing to take just enough of his sarcasm to have a bit of fun, yet still be able to keep him in line and keep authority.

Kate inhaled deeply, watching the water stream from the shower head; not wanting to wait much longer to get the gruesome crime scene scent off of her. She tested the water once more and found it was the perfect temperature. Stepping under the steady stream she quickly found out that there wasn't a comfortable heat that could burn through the memories that would stay there forever. Inhaling the steam one last time as she stepped out of the cubicle, wrapping herself in a towel; she headed to her locker. As the door opened a wave of horror washed over her as she realized the only clothes she had left in her locker were from a few months ago when she went undercover as a prostitute. She picked up the small orange dress and couldn't believe her own dumb luck that she was stuck in the office with DiNozzo.

Tony looked up as she came around the corner. Unable to stop looking, he immediately remembered the _fun_ time when Kate had been ordered to go undercover as a prostitute. Along with that memory he quickly remembered how he had to rescue her by 'picking her up' when the true prostitutes started to corner her. He caught her eye and immediately noticed she was giving him one of her looks and tried to wipe the smirk off his face.

"What?" she asked, irritated by his immaturity.

"Nice dress," he said, raising an eyebrow.


End file.
